Wednesday, June 25, 2014

On 24th June 2014, I waited
somewhat impatiently till 11 pm IST – around 10 overs remained – wanted Lankan
lions to roar .. went to sleep posting one….this morning upon getting up, first
checked to see the scores – it was Lanka win by 100 runs – giving them a record
win – their first Series win in England –
lot remains unsaid of the tension and drama that unfolded.

Bandula Warnapura their first Captain would
have dreamed for this to happen. Sri Lanka have been fighters – I saw
them, particularly Duleep Mendis and Roy Dias do this at Chepauk in 1982. They were 11/2 – Mendis made 105; India amassed
566/6 – declared – openers were out in huff, Mendis again made 105; Roy Dias 80
– both stroke-filled … match was drawn .. Mendis eventually captained them to
their first ever victory in Tests

Yesterday at Headingley in the 2nd
Investec Test – Lanka closed a rather tense match; we have seen many last ball
finishes in ODIs, and much more in T20s – more so in IPL – especially if Dhoni
were to finish. In what could a great
advertisement for Test Cricket, with just 2 balls remaining for close of play, pacer Shaminda Eranga, banged in a short ball
to Jimmy Anderson, which ballooned from his glove to Rangana Herath perched on
the leg side. As the ball was caught, the Sri Lankan team engulfed the bowler,
a writhing heap of humanity on the floor. The batsman crouched in dismay – you cannot
say Anderson failed … Anderson and
Moeen Ali had 122 deliveries to survive to save a match that had seemed a
doomed cause for England
24 hours previously – they played out 120 of them. Moeen Ali enhanced his reputation with a
maiden century that was both steadfast and enchanting, finishing unbeaten on
108; Anderson
had faced 55 balls without scoring as England were all out for 249.

Twenty overs and two balls had remained in
the match when Anderson
joined Moeen, who had 88. Maiden overs were played out and Angelo Mathews
started to ring his bowling changes. What
a stage – considering that England
started the day with 57 for 5 – 350 the target looked unachievable – Lankan win
was on the cards – but the way it came made many hearts miss their beats.

The brief score card would read : Sri Lanka
257 (Sangakkara 79, Plunkett 5-64) and 457 (Mathews 160, Jayawardene 79,
Sangakkara 55, 4-112) and England 365 (Robson 127, Ballance 74, Bell 64,
Mathews 4-44, Eranga 4-93) and 249 (Moeen 108*, Prasad 5-50) by 100 runs – the statistics
would never reveal that the win came at a time when hopes were almost abandoned.
An indomitable backs-to-the-wall display
by Moeen had come so close to sparing England: an unbeaten 108,
unblemished even, made from 281 balls. England's last five wickets had
clung on for all but two balls of the final day. Pride had been salvaged,
perhaps a captain had been spared too, but it is Sri Lanka who can celebrate a
special moment in their Test history. Sri Lanka's last pair held out for
five balls in the first Test at Lord's. This time the task was much harder for
Moeen and Anderson: 20.2 overs. Even in Cardiff,
when Anderson and Monty Panesar famously held off Australia in 2009, they only saw
out 11.3. This time Anderson
summoned a heroic 55-ball nought, all signifying nothing.

Lankans celebrate –
photo credit : cricinfo.com

Cricinfo writes that the crowd was sparse -
Yorkshire had folded its arms in condemnation, convinced like all but the most
incorrigibly optimistic that England's abject collapse to 57 for 5, well adrift
of a target of 350, had sealed their fate.
Moeen’s century came with half-an-hour remaining, flicking Nuwan Pradeep
off his pads, but it had always felt like an afterthought in an innings where
he appeared entirely consumed by England's survival. Even in defeat,
there should be no doubt who will be the recipient of England's
annual Beard of the Year award - and, if that is one of the most frivolous
awards around, this time it would have a more serious message. There were two
umpiring reviews for Moeen to survive along the way, both optimistically sought
by Sri Lanka
for leg-side catches. On 52, a delivery from Rangana Herath, the left-arm
spinner, found its way to leg slip, on 71 Eranga flicked his thigh pad on the
way through to the wicketkeeper, but he was confident that his survival chances
were 100%.

England set the tone for the
final day by making only 26 in nearly 18 overs during a drizzle-interrupted
morning. Prior became a fifth victim for Sri Lanka's fourth-day hero, Dhammika
Prasad, a well-directed ball into his body and a deflection which was expertly
snapped up by Kaushal Silva low down at short leg - not the first time he has
fallen in such a fashion. Indifferent light became Sri Lanka's next problem as the emergence
of a blinking Stuart Broad coincided with the first appearance of the umpires'
light meters. Sri Lanka were forced to resort to Mahela Jayawardene's
little-used offspin - six wickets to his name in 145 Tests - but, while the
restrictions were in operation, Broad's 24-ball nought ended when Herath
straightened one to have him lbw.

Sri Lanka, with this win, have
now won seven Test matches outside the subcontinent, excluding Tests in Zimbabwe. Veterans
Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene
contributed alongside youngsters. Captain
Angelo Matthews stole the show with that epic 2nd innings 170. With this win, Lankans have a record that
they have been their pipe-dream…… for India the memory of the previous tour
would haunt … In 2011, India lost 0-4 ……
in 1971 India won the Series but lost so poorly in the next in 1974 (including
that lowly 42) – will India salvage honours in this tour in 2014 when we play 5
tests ?